Life's Little Curveballs
by Indianakassy
Summary: In one night Shunsui's life changed and now he's found himself father to a 5 year old little girl. Can he really handle such a change in his life? Or is he in over his head? Side story to For You I Will. Possible stand alone.
1. From Handsome Bachelor to Mr Mom

Ok so the actual story A Place in This World is beginning to drive me nuts as I have hit a road block with it. Hence I've brought out this gem to get the muse flowing again. This is a side story to the For You I Will series that involves Shunsui and Kairi as he learns how to be a father and Kairi learned to adjust to a new parent. The actual story should span over their first year together. Hope y'all enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. It all belongs to Tite Kubo. I only own Kairi Kyouraku and Emiko Mizushima as they are OC's I've created for my own writing purposes.

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Chapter 1

"_I found her out in the Rukon districts alone. Captain Unohana says she's malnourished and has several wounds, but her life isn't in any danger."_

"My mommy told me that you were my daddy."

"_She's Emiko's daughter. She's yours Shunsui…she's yours…she's yours…"_

Shunsui Kyouraku woke with a start as he looked around and rubbed his forehead as he tried to wake up. What a bizarre dream he'd had. Emiko, his past flame, had actually had his child. He chuckled. Perhaps the sake was really starting to do things to him. Looking up he paused and took in his surroundings. He wasn't in his quarters but rather the fourth division. No, there was no way. Glancing to his left he sighed. Apparently it wasn't all a dream.

Lying curled up in the bed was a small girl no more than five years old, her little hands curled into fists almost as though she wanted to be ready incase someone tried to hurt her. Shunsui could only stare at the child as he took in her features. She looked just like her mother though her hair was brown instead of black and her skin was a lighter shade similar to his own. He just couldn't believe she was his, and yet he knew she was. Looking at her now even he could see it.

Hearing a small moan he shook his head and saw the small girl was waking up. Opening her big brown eyes she looked at him questioningly. "You stayed?" she asked

He nodded and reached out patting her head. "Of course." He said with a smile. "I couldn't leave a pretty girl like you all alone."

Kairi smiled. "Oh, I thought you-" she paused and looked down at his waist seeing his twin zanpakuto by his side. Immediately her eyes widened as she backed up on the bed.

"What's wrong?" he asked looking at her confused.

"Get away!" she said frightened "Don't hurt me."

"Hurt you? I'm not going to hurt you." He said trying to reach for her. Kairi knew better though. He could be lying and she wasn't going to take that chance anymore.

Not realizing where she was she tried to back up even more only to realize she was out of room. Only she realized it a little too late as she fell off the bed with a yelp. Getting up he quickly went to her aid and helped her up.

"Ow…" Kairi whimpered as she rubbed her head. She stopped when she realized he was holding her and in her panic began to struggle against him.

"It's ok" he said "Just calm down, you're fine." He held onto her only to pull back when he felt teeth sink into his hand. Hissing in pain he let her go and looked at his hand. There wasn't any damage but it got the point across as Kairi scrambled away and curled up in the corner away from him. The whole time she continued to eye him distrustfully. He had swords and she was not gonna let him get near her with those.

Shunsui just sighed and scratched his head not quite sure what to do. At that moment there was a knock on the door as Jyuushiro Ukitake stepped in. The white haired man took in the scene as he looked at his best friend and the little girl several feet away

"What's going on?" he asked confused.

"I don't know." He said "one minute she was alright and the next she was running from me. Look she bit me!"

Jyuushiro raised an eyebrow and looked between the two of them before he saw what the problem was. "Shunsui, it's the zanpakuto. She's scared. She wouldn't let me near her last night either until I set mine aside as well." He explained and motioned to where Sougyou no Kotowari was leaning against the wall.

Shunsui looked down and then at the girl. Sighing he took them off and placed them beside his friends. "Is that better?" he asked

Kairi looked at them and then at him "You won't hurt me?" she asked

"Of course not"

"Pinky swear?" she asked holding out her tiny pinky.

Shunsui raised an eyebrow before he smiled "Pinky swear." He promised, though he felt a little ridiculous doing it.

"Well, now that that's settled how about I see about getting you some food." Jyuushiro suggested as the little girl came out of her spot in the corner. Almost as if on cue the girl's stomach growled loudly as she nodded eagerly.

"Have you ever seen someone eat so much?" Shunsui asked as he and Jyuushiro watched the little girl scarf down her third bowl of chicken and rice.

Jyuushiro shook his head "She might give Yoruichi a run for her money though." He joked then looked at his friend seriously. "So what are you going to do?" he asked "Are you really going to take her in?"

"Do I really have a choice?" he asked "I'm not ready for this Jyuushiro, but I can't leave it alone either."

His friend nodded. "I just don't understand how Emiko made it by unnoticed for five years, much less why she'd keep this big from you."

"Well Emiko was never an easy person to understand." He sighed "She was always planning or thinking up something new and you never knew her full intentions until the very end. I suppose this was just another one of those things…"

Both men were silent until Captain Unohana came in to check on Kairi who had finally called it quits with her eating binge.

"Well her appetites perfectly fine." She said with a smile "and her wounds seem to be healed as well. You can leave with her whenever you're ready."

Shunsui nodded and thanked her before he turned back to look at the small child. "Ready to go?" he asked her as he fastened his zanpakuto at his waist.

Kairi looked up at him for a moment before she simply held her arms out wanting him to carry her. Smiling he picked her up as she leaned against him and looked around as they left. Almost immediatly after they left people began to stare. Was the captain of squad eight really carrying a child? And if so where the heck did he get a kid from?

Shunsui continued to walk with his friend while they ignored the obvious stares and whispers. Neither of them were strangers to the rumor mill and they already knew once they left this one would be bound to spread like wildfire because apparently no one else had anything better to do while they were working.

"Shunsui, just a thought but what are you going to do about the captains meeting in an hour?" Jyuushiro asked as they walked.

"Well I could leave her in the division with Risa…" he started only to pause when little Kairi clung to him tighter. Looking between his newest addition and his friend he sighed and chuckled.

'This will certainly be an interesting meeting.' He mused to himself as the three of them headed for the first division.

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And that's the end of chapter one. Lemme know what you think please! Next chapter little Kairi meets the gotei 13 :D Review please!


	2. Kairi, meet the Gotei 13

Hope you guys enjoy ch. 2 Kairi meets the gotei 13!

Disclaimer- I own nothing. It all belongs to Kubo-Sensei. I only claim Kairi Kyouraku as she is an OC I've created for my own writing purposes.

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Shunsui smiled as he watched Kairi stare at the Seireitei wide eyed. For Kairi it was everything her mother had described to her. Tall buildings, people that could heal and take pain away, and so many people like her; they all had strong reiatsu about them. "It's so big!" Kairi said looking at her father.

Both Shunsui and Jyuushiro chuckled at her exclamation as Shunsui set her down for a little while so she could walk.

"I can't leave you alone for a minute can I?" Lisa Yadomaru asked as she saw her captain approaching with the small girl. She'd been waiting for him to show up. "Where did you get a child from?"

"It's kind of a long story." Shunsui replied scratching the back of his head with his free hand. "I'll explain later when we get back to the division. But in short she's … well she's mine."

Risa just stared as she looked between her captain and Kairi who had climbed down from Shunsui and was running in circles between him and Jyuushiro with her arms out. "She's…yours?" she asked in disbelief.

Shunsui nodded. "I didn't believe it either at first, but she is." Reaching out he caught Kairi as she ran past him. 'Kairi this is Lisa, Lisa, Kairi. She's my lieutenant. You'll be seeing a lot of her."

Kairi looked up at the older woman for a moment before she smiled and went back to playing.

"Cute, well c'mon. Everyone's starting to arrive. You're not taking her with you are you?" she asked looking at Shunsui.

"I don't really have a choice. She'd been attached to me since we left the fourth." He replied as they began to walk again not realizing his latest addition wasn't with him.

Kairi who had started to chase after a hell butterfly didn't notice the adults leave. When the butterfly flew over the wall she gave up with a sigh and turned to say something to Shunsui when she saw he was gone.

"…hello?" Kairi called out but got no response. "Daddy?" She called again as tears welled up in her eyes. Whimpering she turned and began to run away from the first division. Maybe he went that way. As she went to round the corner she ran headfirst into something, or more precisely someone.

"What the hell!?" A male voice asked as he rubbed his head and looked around. Something had run into his legs and tripped him.

"Kensei~!" Mashiro Kuna pointed to the small child. "Look! A kid! She's so cute!"

Kensei growled as he looked over. Sure enough Mashiro was right, it was a kid, but what the hell was a kid doing here?

Kairi rubbed her nose then froze when she saw the feet of the ninth squad captain standing in front of her. Giving a small squeak she backed up and tried to run away only to be stopped when he grabbed her.

"Alright kid, why are you here, this isn't a place for kids to run around." He said gruffly ignoring his lieutenant who was bouncing around him.

"Let me go" she wiggled completely ignoring his question.

"Kensei I wanna play with her!"

"Not until you answer my question." He replied a little more than slightly tweaked. It wasn't that he absolutely loathed children; he just didn't have the patience for them. They were so high maintenance and the fact they leeched onto you for a good eighteen to twenty years was enough to deter him alone. Growling he tried again.

"Tell me why you're here and maybe I'll let you go."

Kairi wiggled more until she finally looked at him with tear filled eyes. "I'm looking for my daddy."

"And whose your father?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Kensei, can we take her with us?"

"His name is Shunsui Kyouraku, now let go!" she yelled kicking Kensei as hard as she could in the shin.

It took all of Kensei's will power not to strangle the little girl as he tried to stifle his curses of pain. After a few moments he finally managed to straighten and glare at the small child who looked back at him defiantly. "Alright, c'mon kid." He said and before Kairi could react he'd picked her up and held her under his arm. "Mashiro lets go!" he yelled after his lieutenant who was in fits of laughter at what happened to Kensei.

Kensei's vein throbbed on his head as he waited ignoring Kairi's protests to put her down.

"MASHIRO!"

"Shunsui, where's Kairi?" Jyuushiro asked

Shunsui looked behind him, he could have sworn…"Oh no…"

"You haven't even had her an hour and already you've lost her." Lisa sighed

"Well she couldn't have gone far." Jyuushiro said "Go and backtrack, she might still be around the area. Not everyone's here yet for the meeting so you have time."

Shunsui sighed and nodded. Well this was just great, he'd just gotten her and already keeping track of her was a problem. Was he really in over his head? The poor captain was just about to leave when everyone in the room could hear the yelling of Captain Muguruma.

"No we can't keep her Mashiro! We're bringing her back where she belongs! And you! Stop kicking me dammit!"

"You don't think…" Jyuushiro was almost afraid to say it.

"Captain Kyouraku!" The silver haired captain entered the room looking quite angry. All eyes in the meeting room looked between Shunsui, Kensei and the small child under his arms. Grabbing Kairi he held her out in front of him. "I found something of yours."

"Kairi" Shunsui looked at the little girl who continued to fight Kensei.

"There, now go on." Kensei said putting her down.

Kairi immediately ran to Shunsui grabbing his haori. "Daddy!" she held onto him and looked back at Kensei sticking her toung out at him.

"There you are." He smiled and pat her head forgetting the worry he'd felt just moments before when he'd discovered she was gone. "Don't run off like that alright?"

She nodded "Ok."

Looking up from tending to Kairi he saw all eyes were on him trying to understand what had just happened.

"Shunsui, whose da kid?" Shinji finally asked the question everyone wanted to know.

"Well, she's my daughter." He explained "Her mother passed and so now I'm responsible for her."

No one spoke. This had to be a joke right? Shunsui Kyouraku, the man notorious for chasing women and drinking sake on a daily basis was really going to take charge of a child's life?

"Well um…I guess congratulations are in order then." Captain Hikifune said with a smile.

Everyone else nodded. "Yes congratulations." They said though the idea was still trying to set in.

Shortly after the head captain came in and looked at the little girl who was standing next to Shunsui. Shaking his head he decided to continue forth with the meeting however within a few minutes Kairi began getting fidgety. In a matter of minutes she went from leaning against Shunsui, to sitting down, to lying down and finally after fifteen minutes of this she let out a loud huff in the middle of the meeting.

"Daddy I'm bored!" she announced with arms crossed.

Several of the captains let out nervous chuckles as the old man paused and looked at the new father who was looking back like a deer caught in the headlights. Unless it was a valid reason no one ever interrupted the captains meetings and the head captain didn't take to kindly to it when it did happen.

"Captain Kyouraku, perhaps bringing her with you wasn't the wisest decision. You may go, but next time, find someone else to watch her." The head captain dismissed him.

Shunsui nodded and picked up the little girl leaving the room quickly. Once they were outside he looked at Kairi who was smiling sheepishly at him. "Uh huh, well at least I don't have to stand in there any more." He said with a smile. "Now hold on tight, we're going back to my squad."

Kairi looked at him curiously before following his instructions. Before she could blink they were in another part of the Seireitei. The poor girl's eyes practically bugged out as she looked at Shunsui. "How'd you do that!?" she asked "That was so much fun!"

Laughing he set her down. "It's called flash step."

"Can I do it?" she asked as they walked into his office.

Smiling down at her he placed a hand on her head. "Maybe some day." He promised. "But for now I think we need a nap. You look tired."

"But I'm not-" Kairi started but was interrupted by a conveniently timed yawn.

"That's what I thought, c'mon." he said.

When Lisa and Jyuushiro returned to his office they found Shunsui passed out on the couch. Curled into his side was Kairi who was sleeping just as soundly.

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Thanks for the reviews last time. Please review to let me know what you think :D If there's any specific moments between them you'd like to see don't hesitate to tell me. They had many firsts lol.


	3. The Thorn In My Side

Chapter 3 of this story is finally done. Hope you all like it :D

Disclaimer- I own nothing. I only lay claim on Kairi Kyouraku and Emiko Mizushima as they are characters I have created for my own writing purposes.

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"Daddy its time to wake up!"

Shunsui grunted as he felt the small child land on his chest. It was definitely not the most comfortable wake up call he'd ever received. Opening his eyes he looked at the smiling five year old who seemed quite pleased with herself.

"Kairi what time is it?" He asked as he yawned.

"I dunno." She said shrugging. "But the sun just came up."

Shunsui paused and looked outside then at Kairi. "Kairi it's too early to be up." He told the little girl before rolling over. "Go back to sleep." It was obvious Shunsui was not a morning person by any means, but that didn't deter Kairi.

"But daddy I wanna get up now." she said shaking his shoulder.

For a moment Shunsui didn't respond, hoping she'd lie back down for a while longer. When she didn't he resigned to his early morning fate with a sigh and sat up. Kairi grinned big as she held onto his back with a giggle. "So what are we going to do today? Not another boring meeting right? I'm hungry, I want food."

Reaching back he grabbed her and placed her into his lap. "Kairi, are you always up this early?" he asked.

Kairi nodded "Uh huh, mama and I always got up with the sun. Every day we'd wake up and mama would take me to work with her. She helped da people in our district whenever they got hurt or sick and I would..."

Shunsui's smile faded as he heard her talk about Emiko. He'd thought after the time that had passed he would have forgotten about her. But now as he looked at this child and listened to her speak. It reminded him all too much of her.

"… and I remember one time we got up and the sun was already high in the sky." She giggled "Mama was really funny that day. She forgot me in her rush ta leave but she came right back for me and-"

"Kairi" Shunsui shushed her. "That's enough, let's get cleaned and eat breakfast." He said picking her up.

After getting her cleaned up Shunsui went to see what he could find for Kairi to eat. Opening his cupboards he found he was quite low on food supplies. Cooking wasn't necessarily his forte thus he didn't keep much around his place. Finally he managed to cook what he was able to find and placed a bowl of rice porridge in front of Kairi. The small child just looked at it almost unsure of what to do with it. A few moments had passed before she made a face at the white blob.

Shunsui looked at her questioningly. "What's wrong?"

"Uh…I'm not hungry anymore." She lied. A second later her stomach growled again.

"Just try it." He said encouraging her.

Kairi shook her head. "No."

"Kairi"

After a minute of sulking Kairi finally tried it, and almost immediately after made another face. "Blegh, I'm not hungry anymore." She said turning away from the food.

Shunsui scratched his head. "You barely tasted it. Kairi you need to eat."

"I don't want it." She said sulking again. "It's yucky."

"It's all you're getting." He replied firmly.

Kairi whined. "But I'm hungry!"

Shunsui looked at his daughter for a few moments more before he gave a heavy sigh. "C'mon. We'll find something for you to eat."

Kairi brightened at that and got up following him out the door.

A half an hour and a full stomach later Kairi happily rode on her fathers back as they headed back to his division. Once inside Shunsui lowered Kairi to the ground and laid down on his couch. He was in desperate need of a nap, and Risa wouldn't be in for a while.

"Daddy you can't sleep." Kairi said climbing on his chest.

Shunsui sighed "It's too early for us to be up. Why don't you play quietly for a while." He said with a yawn.

"But I want you to play with me." She said with a huff. "Daddy?"

Shunsui was already out. Kairi poked him but instead of waking him up he just rolled over. Kairi looked at him once more before climbing down from him. Maybe someone else would play with her.

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"Hey…is that kid supposed to be here?" A member of the ninth division asked.

His comrade shrugged. "Probably not, that's Captain Kyouraku's kid. Hey!"

Kairi froze as the two large men approached her. Sure she was looking for people to entertain her, but not these people. They were scary looking.

"Hey, you shouldn't be out here. Why don't we take you- No don't run!"

Both ninth division members took off after her.

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Captain Kensei Muguruma sat hunched over at his desk working on reports that were in dire need of being completed. Kensei sighed to himself. If only Mashiro were here to help. Unfortunately she decided she was hungry and threw a fit until he finally kicked her out so he could work and she could eat. Reaching over to dip his brush once more into the ink he stopped noticing something was off. Something was scurrying around his division. It was small, but it had a fair amount of reiatsu coming from it. What the hell was it?

The next thing Kensei knew his door slid open slightly and Kairi's small head poked in looking around. Deeming it safe she came all the way in and quietly shut the door. "Phew.."

"What are you doing?"

Kairi jumped a mile high and quickly spun around only to scowl at what she saw. "Oh…it's you."

Kensei's eye twitched. "I could easily say the same. What are you doing in here? Shouldn't you be with your uh….father?"

"Daddy went to sleep and he told me to go play." She said. "I tried to but then those men chased me."

"That's because you're not supposed to be here." Kensei pointed out.

Kairi shrugged. "I just want someone to play with…but I don't really wanna play with you." She told him matter of factly.

"My sentiments exactly." Kensei muttered to himself. He didn't want this brat here, but he knew he'd be dead if he let her leave here alone. Why did god hate him so? "Look just stay here and… draw or something until Kyouraku comes looking for you."

"But I don't wanna draw. I wanna play doctor." Kairi said. If he wasn't gonna let her go she had to work with what she had.

"Well I don't. I have work that needs to get done." Kensei replied.

"I wanna play doctor!" Kari looked ready to cry.

"Alright alright we'll play doctor." Kensei said sitting back down.

Kairi immediately brightened at this. "Ok, I'll be the doctor and you be the sick person. What's wrong with you?" she asked remembering how her mother used to do the same thing.

Kensei sighed as he semi worked on his report. "I have a thorn in my side."

"I had a thorn once but it was in my foot." Kairi said as she looked Kensei over. "Mama had to take it out and-" Kairi stopped as her eye caught something. "What that?" she ran over to what looked like a long piece of wood.

"It's a bokken." Kensei replied still working. "It's used for training. What are you doing?"

Kairi had picked it up. "What do you do with it?" she asked.

"You just swing it." He replied going back to work. Not even a moment later he felt the wood make contact with his head and he was in pain.

"Mother-!!" He managed to catch himself before he finished that curse and held his head which was now throbbing. "Don't swing it at me!!!"

"It was an accident!" Kairi defended herself.

"No more bokken no more doctor just sit here quietly and draw like I told you to in the first place!" He reached for her only to have his hand smacked with the bokken.

"No get away!"

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Shunsui had woken up in a panic when he'd realized Kairi was gone. He'd searched the entire division until he sensed her in the ninth. Quickly he'

Kensei growled when his hand got smacked again. "Will you cut that out!? Stop running!"

"Then stop chasing me!" Kairi replied then ran smack into Shunsui. Looking up she grinned. "Daddy!"

Shunsui picked her up. "Didn't I tell you not to run off?"

Kairi looked at him with the puppy dog pout. "I'm sorry, but I wanted to play and I was bored. But Kensei played with me."

Shunsui looked at Kensei. "You played with her?"

"More or less." He replied.

"Well, thanks for keeping her here." Shunsui said. "I'm sorry for the trouble she caused."

Kensei sighed. "It's fine." He said with a wave of his hand.

Shunsui nodded. "Well I better be going. Again, I'm sorry." Once they were outside Shunsui looked at Kairi. "This is the second time you've run off. What am I going to do with you?"

Kairi looked at him thoughtfully. "Make me eat that yucky rice stuff for breakfast? Or…make me go to a boring meeting again?"

Shunsui shook his head and grinned as Kairi continued to list off things he could do. This child was going to be the death of him, and others if they all weren't careful.

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Hope you enjoyed! R&R please :D


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